That was against the reigning World Series champion Houston Astros. And with Sunday’s 10-4 win over the Cleveland Indians, the Mariners have won two series against a team that led the American League with 102 wins last season.

They also caught a glimpse of how dynamic their lineup can be.

The Mariners’ No. 9 hitter last weekend was Ryon Healy. And he hit two home runs on Sunday after his first in a Mariners uniform on Saturday.

Healy went 2-for-24 to start his Mariners tenure before heading to the disabled list with a sprained ankle suffered in a postgame workout.

“It got me hungry, to be honest,” Healy said of his DL stint on 710-AM radio after. He batted .271 with 25 home runs with the Athletics last year. “I’m really excited to be back on the field and show these Seattle fans the kind of player that I am.”

The Mariners are finally fielding the batting order they envisioned when they acquired Dee Gordon (who was 4-for-5) and Healy via trades.

In their three games with their full lineup, the Mariners scored 27 runs. One of those games was against Carlos Carrasco (18-6 with a 3.29 ERA in 2017) and one was against two-time Cy Young winner Corey Kluber.

In all, the Mariners finished their 10-game road trip with a 7-3 record and improved to 16-11. It's the Mariners’ best start to a season since they were 17-10 in 2003.

Here’s three things to take away from the first month (plus two games in March) of the season:

First baseman Ryon Healy returned to the Mariners' lineup this weekend and promptly hit three home runs in two days.(Photo: David Dermer, AP)

Big bats

The season started 1-2-3 – as in, the top three of the Mariners' order (Dee Gordon, Jean Segura and Robinson Cano) doing a ton of damage.

Cano hit his 100th home run since joining the Mariners five years ago. He hit 204 homers in nine seasons with the Yankees.

Then Mitch Haniger got hot – and has stayed hot. His 10 home runs were tied for most in the majors with the Los Angeles Angels’ Mike Trout and the Yankees’ Didi Gregorius.

That’s a 60-homer pace if Haniger keeps this up for the rest of the season. And only Gregorius had more RBIs than Haniger’s 27, while only Gregorius, the Red Sox’s Mookie Betts and the Orioles’ Manny Machado had a better on-base plus slugging of 1.085.

Not bad from your No. 6 hitter.

And now they have their No. 9 hitter rolling.

Healy has a hit in each of his three games since returning from the DL – with the three home runs.

“He’s got power, no doubt,” Servais said. “When you start contributing like that, you feel like you’re part of the team. Any time you come to a new organization you want to show the guys you can be a big-time contributor. And hopefully this relaxes him and we continue to see those kids of swings from him going forward.”

The Mariners hit 10 home runs in the three-game series in Cleveland.

Sunday was the sixth time the Mariners have scored eight runs or more in a game.

“You can’t compare this lineup with any other right now,” Cano said. “We can face any ace in the league. Every batter right now is swinging good and hopefully that continues.”

Edwin Diaz has been arguably the best relief pitcher in the Major Leagues, racking up 11 saves in as many opportunities while striking out 27 and allowing just one run in 14⅓ innings.(Photo: Jeffrey McWhorter, AP)

How about the bullpen?

Yeah, that’s been really good, too.

And the back end of it has been elite.

Edwin Diaz leads the major leagues with 11 saves in 11 opportunities. He’s allowed one run in 14⅓ innings pitched. Oh, and he’s struck out 27.

James Pazos has seemed to figure things out over his past seven appearances, allowing no runs in 8⅔ innings pitched. But Dan Altavilla has been hit and miss, throwing wildly on Sunday, and left-hander Marc Rzepczynski has struggled against left-handed hitters.

But the bullpen did retire 21 consecutive batters over three games against the White Sox. And the bullpen has only earned two of the team’s losses (both charged to Altavilla).

Starter struggles

The Mariners remain one of four teams out of the 30 in the major leagues that haven’t had more than one starter pitch at least seven innings in a game. The Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds and Milwaukee Brewers were the three other teams.

They knew their rotation would be their weakness, which is why they committed to an eight-man bullpen this offseason and have toyed with the idea of a six-man rotation.

If their starters can get deeper into games, that’s going to save their bullpen over the long haul.

Look at what happened against the White Sox on Monday. Mike Leake lasted 3⅓ innings after allowing eight runs and 12 hits, but Wade LeBlanc saved the day when he pitched the rest of the 4⅔ innings of the game, allowing two runs.

The Mariners lost, 10-4, but the rest of their bullpen was more fresh the next two games. Edwin Diaz and Juan Nicasio combined for three saves and three holds over the Mariners’ next three wins.

They’d prefer to do that with their starter going longer distances.

And one to watch: Erasmo Ramirez. In his two starts since returning from the disabled list, he hasn’t had the velocity he displayed last year and he’s been tagged for seven home runs in 9 ⅔ innings (10.24 ERA). If he doesn’t turn it around quick, the Mariners would have some decisions to make with him out of minor league options.

Erasmo Ramirez has given up seven home runs in just nine and two-thirds innings pitched.(Photo: Michael Ainsworth, AP)